Trunks, ‘chop boxes’, mattresses, pillows, brooms and brushes moved from one-second cycle boarding school to the other as first-year students started reporting to the various institutions yesterday.
This follows their placement into the various senior high schools (SHSs) and technical and vocational institutes (TVET) under the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) of the Ghana Education Service (GES).
The students were initially supposed to report on February 20 but due to the short notice after their placement, the GES extended the reporting date to February 27, to give parents and guardians enough time to prepare to send their children and wards to school, a Daily Graphic team that monitored the process observed.
While Shirley Asiedu-Addo and Francisca Eshun in Cape Coast monitored the processes in Cape Coast, Dickson Worlanyo Dotse and Yaa Kuffour Senyah made observations in Accra.
At the various SHSs and TVET institutions on the first day of reporting, there were crowds of students who had converged on the various institutions to go through their confirmation on the schools’ lists and registration.
In view of a large number of students and parents they had to attend to, some schools had to create additional spaces to accommodate their ‘guests’ by mounting canopies to attend to them and to fast-track the process.
This is aside from the use of assembly halls and other places.
The students, especially those going to boarding houses, could be seen carrying their trunks, mattresses, chop boxes, hoes, brooms, machetes, detergents and packs of toiletries and other items on their prospectus, based on the programmes they have been offered to pursue.
One notable feature was parents who could be seen carrying the chop boxes of their children.
Observation
In Accra, the team observed that as early as 4 a.m., students and their parents had started arriving at the schools with the items listed on the respective prospectus.
The items included trunks and ‘chop boxes’, mattresses, pillows, buckets, brooms and brushes, among others.
Roads to some of the schools, particularly the Presbyterian Boys Secondary School (PRESEC, Legon), Accra Academy and West Africa Senior High School, witnessed a virtual gridlock of anxious parents and students reporting.
They reported to the Administration or designated registration points to verify their admission and to select their bouquet of programmes for their houses of residence and assigned dormitories.
Also, it was observed that most schools had introduced online registration portals that had made things easier and more efficient and convenient, thereby easing the pressure on parents.
Generally, the processes on all school premises were smooth with no disruption.
The Daily Graphic teams also observed that most of the new students appeared calm and ready for their new environments, while those who had met their mates from junior high school looked excited to be together in SHS too.
PRESEC, Legon
A parent who gave his name only as Kofi said “management of PRESEC, Legon made us do the registration online, which I must say, is commendable because it has eased the long queues and hustle that would have been experienced here this morning”.
The Assistant Headmaster in charge of Academics at the school, Prince Agortey, told the Daily Graphic that the management of the school experienced a smooth registration process.
He stated that as early as 4 a.m. parents had started arriving with their children to commence the registration process.
“However, due to the systems management has put in place, they were registered based on attendance,” the assistant headmaster said.
Mr Agortey said the school was expecting about 1,600 students and as of the time of the Daily Graphic’s visit around 8 a.m., more than 400 students had registered, adding “I must say the process is smooth”.
At the Accra Girls’ SHS, the Assistant Headmaster in charge of Academics, Sebastian Akali-nya Adama, said the school was expecting a little over 700 students.
He noted that in sharp contrast to the previous year, the school was looking to fill only spaces left by graduating students.
“Last year, we had more numbers than we anticipated so at a point we wished we could stop admitting but since they came with the name of the school, we could not reject them.”
“But luckily for us, we had two new dormitories at the time built so we managed to take care of them,” he said.
“However, this year we are only replacing the number that left; we had 840 that completed so we cannot go beyond that or else we could create congestion,” Mr Adama added.
ATTC
At the Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC), the Vice-Principal in charge of Domestic, Robert Asante, said even though the school declared 720 vacancies, only 580 had been placed there at the time.
He, therefore, maintained that there were enough spaces available for students who were undergoing the self-placement methods and had interests in technical education for admission to the school.
“Normally, when they do the placement some also change schools, so someone will be placed here but will not come.
“So those who come in for consideration when there is a vacancy, we will consider them,” Mr Asante added.
Cape Coast
In Cape Coast, some teachers, students and guardians indicated that the processes had so far been smooth.
A tutor at Adisadel College, Joycelyn Bain, said as early as 5:30 a.m. there were parents and students who had arrived at school with the list of items on the prospectus.
She said the school started the registration at 8 a.m. at various points of registration to confirm their admission and directed them to their assigned houses after going through the processes.
Ms Bain added that the online registration portals had made things easier, more efficient and convenient, thereby easing pressure on the schools.
So far, she said, the school had not experienced any challenges, adding that they were expecting more students to arrive by the close of the week.
Adisadel College also had adequate teachers and more facilities to welcome the freshers in school, Ms Bain added.
A parent, Henrieta Owusu Ansah, who had accompanied her child to the school, said she was overwhelmed by the treatment she received from the teachers aside from the friendly way the students welcomed him.
Another parent, Emmanuel Ampiah, said the school environment was very serene for teaching and learning.
He added that the process was fast and it had been smooth for him.
A fresher at Adisadel College Augustine Prah, said he was offered General Science and was happy about the programme, adding that he would learn hard considering the conducive school environment he had seen.
Order
At the Ghana National College, parents were directed to park their cars in an orderly way to ease traffic on the school premises.
Parents who arrived a bit late were in a queue for registration, at the time of the visit at about 10 a.m.
Another Parent, Mary Arhin from Ablekuma in Accra, said she arrived at the school at exactly 9 a.m. to begin registration.
She said the teachers who served her treated her with respect and she liked how smooth the registration had been.
At Aggrey Memorial Senior High School, many of the new students had reported to the administration block and were going through the registration processes.
The process was also smooth at the Mfantsipim School and St Augustine’s College.
